baking

Making pizza dough from scratch sounds harder than it is. And this recipe makes it even easier by cutting down on the kneading. Kneading helps the gluten in the wheat form long strands that hold the dough together and give bread its customary chewiness. Gluten also develops and becomes stronger as dough rises. By increasing the rising time, you can … Read more

Now that it’s getting warmer, bananas and avocados ripen a lot faster on the counter than they did in the winter. They over-ripen a lot faster, too. Over the weekend, I found myself with a glut of avocados and bananas that were too ripe for my taste, but still edible. How could I use them up fast? I decided to make … Read more

I had a bunch of odds and ends in my fridge: an overripe avocado, half a banana, a spot of applesauce, some leftover millet and a bit of whey from making Greek yogurt. What could I make that used all of them? Muffins, of course! Avocados are a great source of beneficial fats, including anti-inflammatory phytosterols and oleic acid, similar to the … Read more

The recipe is an adaptation of a quiche I first tasted at a Master Gardeners potluck many years ago. It was the best quiche I’d tasted in ages, so of course I pestered the cook for the recipe. It turned out to be something she’d clipped from a supermarket circular The secret ingredient is cottage cheese, which gives it a … Read more

I was in the mood for something made with buckwheat, and while racking my brain for flavors that would go well with it, I hit upon cranberries. I almost always have a bag or two of whole, unsweetened cranberries in my freezer – I tend to buy several pounds in autumn when they are cheap and toss them in the freezer. … Read more

My two favorite desserts are “anything with chocolate” and “anything with pumpkin.” This recipe includes both – although with its relatively low sugar content, you don’t have to save it for dessert. This muffin does not have the cake-level of sweetness that you’ll usually fine in prepackaged muffins or the ones they sell at coffee shops. I use just enough sweetener … Read more

I am taking the online course Introduction to Nutrition – Food for Health from Wageningen University and lately we’ve been talking about the role of carbohydrates in health and ways to reduce sugar consumption. I shared some of my own sugar-reduction habits on the discussion boards there and decided to also share them here for readers who want to bake with less … Read more

After I posted last week’s Nutella-inspired muffins, a vegan friend asked me for muffins with the flavors of a dark chocolate Reese’s peanut butter cup. I experimented a little and this is what I came up with. I would love to have an even peanutier taste, but these muffins are quite moist and I fear anymore peanut butter would make them dense. I’ve been thinking … Read more

This recipe is a marriage of two indulgences: my double chocolate muffins and Nutella. They are full of hazelnuts (or filberts, if you prefer) and chocolate in multiple forms. Hazelnut/filbert flour is available in some specialty stores, but you can also make it at home in a blender or coffee grinder. To get what you need for this recipe, pulse a … Read more

These muffins are packed with fiber and phytonutrients, but are still moist and sweet. They are a great way to use the applesauce I can each fall. When I make my own sauce, I leave the skins on, which provides more pectin and fiber. The skins break down in the cooking and further in the blender, so they aren’t noticeable … Read more